


Harry & The Beast

by kodalinarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, M/M, Narry - Freeform, dont hate me, i didn't get into it too much, im shit at action scenes and endings, lilo is more of a friend thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 15:37:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4106119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kodalinarry/pseuds/kodalinarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Narry-Beauty & The Beast AU </p>
<p>**You don't have to know the original story to read this**</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harry & The Beast

The door to the small house Harry and his mother shared in a small wooded town swung open quickly, the warmer air from outside swimming into the cooler building. Harry’s head snapped in the direction of the sound, flour from baking that had managed to get in his hair – and really all over him – created a small cloud around him.

“Oh, perfect!” Harry’s mum, Anne, beamed from the opened door, placing an empty basket down by the floor, “I’m glad to see you getting a head start on today’s baking.” She brushed her hands over her dress before fully entering the house, walking straight to Harry’s side.

“I figured you could use some help, the bread and cookies have been selling quickly,” Harry leaned down to his mother, offering his cheek for her to kiss. She pressed a kiss to his cheek softly before spinning out of the kitchen. Harry smiled to himself before returning to knead at the dough on the board below him.

“That they have,” she sing-songed, “Speaking of cookies! While I was down at the market selling the marvelous oatmeal and sugar cookies we whipped up yesterday, a woman  who had ordered from us before returned with the news of a baking fair type thing that we were invited to attend. It’s similar to a science fair, like a showcase of sorts. It would be great for us to get our name out there but unfortunately it’ll be held tomorrow and I don—“

Harry stopped his kneading, placing his hands flat on the soft dough, “You have to go, mum! I can make the cookies right now or later tonight, where i—“ Harry began talking a mile a minute, fumbling over his words until his mother stopped him.

“Harry, baby, please calm down!” Anne laughed, joining her son in the kitchen, “I appreciate the help but I don’t know,” She was hesitant as she bit down on her bottom lip and swayed from side to side.

“You’d be crazy not to take the opportunity, this chance is one step closer to opening your own bake shop,” Harry sighed, wiping his floury hands on the front of his apron tied around his waist and neck, “I was planning on making cookies soon anyway. Please, mum, we have to do this.”

“Okay, okay!” She held her hands up in surrender, a small smile creeping onto her face, “I’ll have to give the lady a call but the center it’s taking place in isn’t too far out, I can take the pathway through the woods and not have to pay for a taxi of any sort. I’ll head out early tomorrow morning, you’ll have to stay here and tend to our spot at the market downtown. I can trust you, right?”

“I think I’m offended that you’re questioning my loyalty right now,” Harry smiled down at his mum, her similar face smiling back at him. He placed his hands on his hips, cocking one to the side in a mock of offense. Anne laughed and mirrored his actions, giggling erupted between them.

“I know I can trust you, you’ve run the spot before,”  She reached a hand up and into Harry’s hair, ruffling some flour out of it, “Now, get to cooking all those cookies—finish the bread first, then cookies.”

-

“Please remember to turn off the oven before you head down to the market, lock the doors and make sure you keep the money you make on you,” Anne lectured Harry on rules he already knew as she softly packed all the goodies into the giant basket she preferred caring it in, the cloth used within it kept the baked goods warm, “Don’t let the gross men take advantage over you, don’t sell anything for any less than the prices we’ve discus—“

“Mum, if you don’t go now, the convention will be over with and our opportunity gone,” Harry groaned from the sink where he was washing his hands, he wiped them dry on the dish towel and joined Anne by the front door.

“I’m a mother, I just want to make sure my son understands everything and is set for the day by himself.”

“I’m not twelve.”

“I know,” Anne rolled her eyes before cupping Harry’s cheek with her hand and smiling, “I’ll be off now, be good and sell all that you make. You always do though,” She grinned before stepping on her toes, her son being a good foot taller than her, and kissed his cheek in farewell. Harry watched as she sauntered off into the woods before closing the door to their house, locking it before returning to the kitchen where he was to check the bread loaves in the oven.

Once everything was baked and cooled down, Harry packed it all into plastic tubs which he would put into big cloth bags, making it easy for him to travel five minutes into town to sell. Calling a taxi to pick him up was too much of a hassle, not to mention he didn’t mind walking and saying hello to all the people of his town.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite baker boy,” Harry heard him before he felt his overly buff arm draped over his shoulder, rolling his eyes and taking a breath.

“Noah, please. I’m just trying to get to work,” He’d stopped walking, turning to face the man who seemed to bother him just about every day. Noah was the town’s number one most wanted bachelor, everyone—even from neighboring towns—wanted to be the lucky one Noah was going to marry. Well, everyone except Harry, who even just the mere thought of being married to the self-centered, egotistic, muscle-head made him want to go bury himself six feet under.

“Say, Harry, has anyone told you you’ve got nice… buns?” Noah laughed, pulling Harry unwillingly closer into his side. Harry wiggled free from his grasp, staring disgustedly at the long-haired blond.

“I didn’t like it the first time you said it to me, what makes you think I like it now?” He huffed, brushing a loose strain of hair behind his ear as he watched Noah intently.  The blond smirked, reaching behind his head to tighten his ponytail.

“One day, Harry. One day I’ll make you mine,” He let out a laugh similar to that of an evil mastermind, “We’ll be happily married, you can bake me food and clean the house an—“

“I am not a housewife, and if I was, it would definitely not be to you,” Harry tightened his grips on the bags in his hands before turning to walk away, “Have a good day, Noah.”

Harry managed to make it with enough time to set up the small vendor space granted for their baked goods, the table was set between a fudge vendor and candle vendor, tent walls separated them the best they could. Through the day, smiling and welcoming costumers, he managed to sell just about everything with a couple minutes to spare before everyone had to take down their ‘shops’ and head back home for the market to close. On his walk home, he stopped to give the last chocolate chip cookie to an elderly woman who always sat on her porch a few houses down from his own. He sat and visited her for a while as she went on and on about how good the cookie was and how nice it was for Harry to think about her, again. The sun had begun to set and he decided it would be best to get home, to make sure his mess from some morning baking was cleaned up before his mother was to return home.

When he entered the house, the flashing red light from the voicemail machine on the phone quickly caught his eye, even from the far distance it was from the door. Harry dropped the bags by the door and quickly rushed for the phone, clicking the flashing button to cease its blinking and to listen to the voicemail that was left.

“Good afternoon, Styles residence. This is Jenny from the Bakers Oven Fair, I talked to the lady of the house just yesterday and we arranged for her to be here with us today. Unfortunately, she never showed. We’re calling to further discuss an invitation to next month—“ Harry quickly slammed the phone back into the receiver, turning his head to look at the clock on the oven.  Based on time the green numbers read back to him, Anne should’ve returned home by now. Panic began to course through his body, an uneasy feeling setting in his body.

He quickly returned to the door, slipping into a jacket since night fall was soon to be upon the town. His head snapped back and forth over the small foyer, searching for the heavy flashlight they kept nearby in case of emergency. He found it snuggled into the corner by the door, bending down quickly to grab hold of it. Harry held it firmly by the handle, clicking the on button a couple of times to assure it worked. Once he saw it worked, he quickly slipped through the door, nearly forgetting to lock the house. He successfully locked the door once he remembered, stuffing the keys back into his pocket.

Dashing off for the woods, the flashlight on and aimed in front of him to light the way. It was spring and the somewhat chilly air quickly slowed Harry down, his body not used to taking in cooler air and faster than normal as his heart and lungs worked harder as he ran. He slowed down to a speed walk, his breath puffing out in small clouds in front of him. Minutes into the dark and creepy woods, Harry reached a point where the path broke off into two in a V-shape.

“Shit,” Harry muttered, flashing his light between the two paths. He tried to remember which path his mother would’ve taken to get to the town over. He had never traveled through the woods himself but he knows his mother had told him which way to go just in case, but her exact words were quick to slip his mind in his moment of panic. He decided he’d take the left path, worse comes to worse he would turn around and follow the right path. Curling into himself, he continued to walk through the path in fear. Every sound made between the scrawny and dying trees would be picked up by him and he would quickly shine his light over where he thought he had heard the sound come from. Twigs snapped behind him, the sound of them breaking under something heavy made his heart beat pick up and he began to pick up his pace. A bird, most likely an owl, flew over his head as the twigs snapping sounds grew louder and more persistent.

“Hello?” Harry turned, calling out as he shined his flashlight and let his eyes scan over the vastness behind him. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, if he was being followed, it was extremely unlikely the person would make themselves noticed. As he turned back around to continue down the path, a low grumbling sound arouse from somewhere behind him. Fearfully, Harry’s turned back around and nearly fainted. Two massive gray wolves, eyes the color of honey, snarled at him in return of his puffy breaths. Panic over ruled and Harry took off running, it was a dumb idea and he knew it. Wolves could easily out run him but he wasn’t going to go down without a fight, or at least running away.

Harry had never run faster in his life, the wolves had moved off to the sides of the pathway as they ran closely behind him. They snarled, growled, and occasionally barked behind him. The idea of their ridiculously sharp teeth biting through his thin skin, causing a slow and painful death, only got Harry’s feet to carry him faster. Miraculously, he was able to keep the flashlight in his right hand firmly pointed straight forward and in the near distance, he spotted tall gates with sharp metal pieces pointed towards the dark sky to stop intruders from climbing over the fence. With no hesitation, Harry lunged for the gate door, to his surprise and total luck, it was open. As he stepped into the gate, he felt a tug on the end of his jacket. One of the wolves on the hunt had it clamped between its teeth through the rods of the gate. Harry surrendered the coat, slipping out of it to let the wolf have at it. The wolf and its companion scampered off once Harry was successful with locking the opened gate using the heavy latch on the inside of it. 

He took a moment to catch his breath, adrenaline still running through his entire body. It had to have taken him a good five minutes before he could breath properly again. He turned to look at the abandoned property he had managed to find, at least it looked abandoned. It was a glorious mansion, castle if you want to use that term, tall and royal looking. It was dark, very run down looking even under the dim moonlight. As his eyes scanned over the shattered stain-glass windows with ripped curtain whirling out of with the breeze of the wind, he noticed the front door had been open similarly to the gate doors. He decided he wouldn’t be going anywhere back out into the woods until the sun was out and the wolves were asleep. Carefully, he walked towards the huge doors, the castle’s size growing larger as he got closer to it. He peeked his head in first, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark massive foyer.

“Uh, hello?” He reached his hand inside, the flashlight lighting up the massive entry. On the floor in front of him was a red carpet embroidered with blue and gold delicate designs. The walls were a similar shade of red, old paintings of England hung in different frames. Harry gaped at the high ceilings, molded with shapes of angels and vines. The inside, or at least the bits he’s seen, were nowhere near as torn down looking as the exterior of the castle. In fact, he would consider the inside beautiful.

“Shh, don’t speak,” the sound of a soft and deep British accent whispered somewhere to Harry’s left. Freaked out, Harry spun and shone the light in the direction of the sound.  A table stood against the wall, a candelabra candle that was lit and an old fashion clock were sat side-by-side on its surface.

“Hello?” Harry called out again, spinning around to the other side, instantly thinking he has officially gone mad.

“Look at the poor guy, we must help him,” A higher but unmistakably male voice sounded, following the deeper one again,

“But Master-“

“Hello!” Harry all but shouted, his breathing becoming erratic again.

“Okay, okay! Fine!” The deep voice whisper shouted and Harry knew the sound was coming from the table he had just inspected. He pivoted around once more, this time the clock and candle stared back at him, smiles spread over their… faces?

“What?” Harry blinked a couple of times to assure he wasn’t seeing things, reaching a handout to grab the candle.

“Put me down!” It shrieked in his hand, causing Harry to drop it in shock. The clock on the table sniggered, the second hand swiping madly across its face, “I will not be man handled.”

“I must’ve hit my head while running from the wolves,” The brunet muttered more so to himself as he watched the candle on the ground stand up, holding itself with proper posture.

“Hate to break it to you, but you aren’t seeing things. Welcome to uh, our Master’s castle. Please, do come in further. We can help you get situated so you can return home good as new,” the candle hopped to Harry’s boot clad feet, nudging his ankles with one of its arms.

“I really shouldn’t,” Harry stepped backwards, still totally uneasy over the situation of a candelabra talking and moving.

“I agree,” The clock’s voice sounded from the table, Harry watched as it too wobbled to the edge of the table and jumped off, waddling to stand next to his companion candle.

“Nonsense,” The candle smiled up at Harry, “Don’t mind, Payno. He is living up to the suffix of his name, right pain the arse he is.”

“Louis, I’m not being a pain. You know how Master feels about, uh, visitors,” the clock, or Payno according to the talking candle, looked increasingly nervous, his eyes wouldn’t stop moving. Harry watched as Payno and assumedly Louis, began to argue quietly between each other. He watched as Louis swung an accusing wick as Payno continued to shake.

“I’m looking for my mother, I really shouldn’t be here.” Harry announced rather loudly, awkwardly putting his hands into his pocket. Louis and Payno stopped bickering at that, both their faces quickly washed over with guilt. Harry stared, confused.

“I knew it!” Payno screeched, reaching his edge into Louis’ side, “The other visitor, the lady, looks just like him! We should’ve known! Oh no, this is very bad! Very bad!” The carriage clock began to pace; if he was a human, Harry was sure he would have no hair on his head.

“Wait, you know my mother? Where is she? Is she okay? What is wrong right now?” Harry hadn’t realized it but his voice grew increasingly loud, starting at a low whisper up to a near shout. The sound of a slamming door sounded from further in the castle, like it had come from up the stairs Harry had just noticed not too far from him.

“Oh no,” Payno continued to mutter, he begin to run around the foyer in nervous circles. Louis gulped audibly, skipping further into the castle towards the sound.

“Who dares enter my home once again?” A gruff growl sounded from the top of the stairs, Harry could only make out a massive shape of a shadow at the top of the stairs, a massive window behind the figure casted limited lighting. He watched as the figure appeared to be on all fours before slowly standing up onto two feet, the dark shadow now stood way taller than Harry, than any human for that matter.

“Master, Master please,” Harry heard Louis pleading but he couldn’t take his eyes off the towering figure feet away from him. Heavy breathing that of an animal were coming from the top of the stairs, grunts of disapproval with every word Louis continued to say, “Sir, it is the woman’s son! He is here to see his mother; I think it’d be best to help him.”

“I don’t enjoy unannounced visitors,” The deep voice rang through the large castle, an accent filling Harry’s ears.

“Master, I must admit, none of this was my fault. It was all Louis’ idea b-but maybe you should—uh—let the boy see his mother.” Payno was now by Harry’s ankle, hiding behind it the best he could.

“Who knows, sir, he could be the answer to our problem,” Louis chimed in just to be silenced by a loud roar, the walls of the castle shaking under the rumble of the sound.

“Fine, you want to see your mother?” the figure aimed its voice in Harry’s direction; he nodded eagerly, “Let’s go.” Harry quickly ran up to the thing, thinking more about the fact he may see his mother instead of the fact he was following something he didn’t even know. He followed the hunched figure through the east hallways of the massive castle, light would occasionally reach through the windows and Harry could make out broad shoulders and a cape of some sort on the figure in front him. The two reached the end of a hallway where a massive red door was, Harry figured and hope that behind the door is where his mother was. The creature before him opened the door, walking in a few steps before Harry could catch a glimpse of what was inside the room they’ve just entered.

“Mum!” Harry shoved passed the thing, ignoring the feeling of fur rubbing against his skin as he ran up to the metal bars his mother was slouched behind, “Oh, god. I’m so glad to see you alive.”

“Harry,” Anne lifted her head, her eyes meeting her son’s, “You need to get out of here as fast as you can, the beast of the castle will not be happy.” Harry shook his head consistently, taking Anne’s hands in his own.

“I am not happy,” the deep voice bellowed from behind them, Harry nearly forgetting he had followed it into the room. He realized then that they were in a well-lit room, candles and lanterns hung on all the walls. He spun around, releasing his mother’s hands.  A few feet behind him towered a creature like no other. It had to have stood nearly seven feet tall, or maybe its broad shoulder and massive features made it appear much taller. Harry’s heart raced as he looked it over. His head was massive, similar to that of a wolf but bigger, harrier, and a bigger jowl with sharper teeth that jutted out on the bottom from a notable under-bite. He had big blue eyes, horns upon its head behind its ears. Fur of different shades of brown, some parts even blond, covered it thickly from head to toe. With his human-looking form, powerful claws were where hands and feet should be, sharp black nails growing outwards from them. Unlike animals though, the creature had what appeared to be on outfit on. Wrapped around wide shoulder was a purple cape secured under its hairy chin. It wasn’t wearing a shirt with its ripped below-the-knees pants, its hallow chest pooched out like it was a prideful.

“Pl-please release my mother,” Harry’s voice shook as he could now see what he was dealing with, the whole situation felt like a twisted nightmare but he knew if it was, he would’ve been up by now. A rumble sounded from within the Beast’s throat and Harry shrunk back into the bars that separated him and his mother, Anne slipped her arms through the bars and wrapped them reassuringly around Harry. The Beast seemed to have put thought into the idea of letting the woman go, but it was too good to be true.

“One of you must stay to pay for trespassing onto my property,” the Beast snarled, his brows furrowed as he stared at Harry intently.

“Fine!” Harry chocked out, taking a deep breath, “Let her go and keep me here, she doesn’t deserve to be held captive here, she’s always put me first but now it’s my turn.”

“Harry, don’t say that! You’re young, go live your life, please.” Anne pleaded into her son’s ear from behind him but he continued to shake his head. The Beast puffed angry breaths from his nose as he grew impatient.

“It’s settled, the boy will stay,” He announced before swiftly stepping forwards, grabbing Harry by the collar of his shirt and shoving him out of the way of the door to Anne’s cell. Beast ripped the lock apart with his bare claw, throwing the metal over his shoulder. Harry rubbed at his collar bone, the skin burning from the Beast’s harsh handling, watching as his mother scurried out from the cell. Beast stood between the mother and son pair before pointing a long finger to the door they had come from, leaving Anne no choice but to walk the direction he was pointing to. The Beast followed behind her, acting as a median between her and Harry. Every time Anne tried to turn and speak, the Beast would growl and it would scare her into turning back around as they paraded to the castle’s door.

“Oh, you’re letting them go! Incredible, Sire.” Payno smiled widely as he watched his Master and new comers walk to the door.

“Only she will go,” Beast grumbled, watching Anne take tentative steps towards the door, “The boy will stay here for as long as I please as a punishment for stepping foot into my castle.” Anne opened the door, turning her head over her shoulder to stare at her son through tear pooling in her green eyes, “Get going!” Beast spoke through gritted teeth causing Anne to shut her eyes tightly, allowing a tear to slip down her cheek.

“I love you, mum,” Harry’s voice quavered as his mother took a step outside; she frowned over her shoulder before blowing a kiss in her son’s direction, not trusting her voice or wanting to test the Beast’s patience.  Once she began to descend down the long front yard, Beast slammed the door shut. Louis and Payno were now both in the room, hiding behind the shaken up boy.

“Show him to his room,” Beast shoved past Harry, his force and natural strength nearly knocking him down as he continued to stomp away. Payno and Louis nodded eagerly, hopping and wobbling after the Beast to guide Harry to the room he’d be residing in. They went back down the east wing of the castle, this time turning right at the second door. Harry twisted the knob slowly, allowing Louis to push it open from the foot.

“It’s a bit messy, we usually don’t have visitors,” Payno apologized as they all entered the room. Furniture was turned over or opened, clothes thrown around the room apparently aimlessly.

“Totally understand why you don’t,” Harry sniffled, walking over to the bed to take a seat at the edge, slowly processing the twisted nightmare that had become reality.

“He isn’t usually _that_ bad,” Louis began, Harry cutting him off by giving him his best ‘I don’t believe that shit’ look, “Okay, so he wasn’t _always_ like that.”

The boy groaned before tossing himself backwards onto the bed, staring up at the high ceilings above him, wondering just how the shitty predicament he was in even came to be. Who knows when he’d see his mother again, if he didn’t rot in the castle first, that is.

“Is there any way we can make your stay as comfy as possible?” Payno sighed loudly, blowing the second hand on his face out of whack, “Afterall, it is Louis’ fault you’re still here.” Louis let out a loud whine of ‘Heeeey!’, only causing the clock to roll his eyes once more, something he’s done ample times since Harry’s arrived.

“I think I would just like to get some sleep,” Harry yawned, his eyes sore from blinking back his tears and body aching from the run he had to the castle, “If I can fall asleep that is.”

“Okay, we’ll be right out in the hallway if you need anything,” Louis smiled, bending one of his arms into his lengthy stock in an attempt of bowing, the best a candle could do. The two lively (literally) objects sauntered out of the room, somehow opening and closing the door. Left with the quietness of the room, Harry scrambled to the top of the bed. He pulled the duvet and sheets back quickly for inspection before burying himself beneath it all. He closed his eyes and purposely slowed his breathing the best he could, trying to reach any form of relaxation to be able to fall asleep. Unfortunately, once his mind and body were nearly under the spell of sleep, a nightmare or memory would jolt him in his place. Memories of the events that happened not many hours before, running faster than he’s ever had, dodging his best in and out of the droopy trees. Or a short nightmare of discovering the castle too late and arriving when his mother had already died in the prison she was kept in.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he attempted to fall asleep, there wasn’t a working clock of any type in the room, but he heard Payno and Louis shouting in the hallway.

“Sir! Sir! He is sleeping, leave him be!” He heard Payno calling moments before a loud-hard slam hit the room door, surprisingly not knocking it off its very hinges. He shot up in the bed, knees folded up into his chest as he huffed and puffed.

“Well, wake up! Come and eat!” Harry recognized it as the Beast’s voice, pounding pursuing the command. The boy in the bed scrunched up his face in distaste, the Beast only thought he could push Harry around but the brunet was certainly not going to let that happen.

“No thank you,” He called from the bed, acting like he wasn’t hungry even though his stomach grumbled only seconds after.

“I said, come and eat.” Beast demanded harder, trying his best to respect the boundary of Harry’s new room and privacy, knowing selfishness and greed in the past got him nowhere. Louis and Payno were right; this may be his one chance to fix the problems they’ve all been living with for years, not to mention he only had a short amount of time left.

“I heard you,” Harry shouted back, “And I said, no thank you!”

He hit a nerve-- not that Beast’s nerves were hard to miss. Without warning, Beast barged through the door, the knob hitting the wall behind it, leaving a slight indent. Harry’s hands tightened on the sheets but he tried his best to not look as terrified as he felt, holding his breath.

“I’m telling you, you must come and eat. The dishes and these two idiots slaved away to make you food for when you woke up. Now, _please_ , come down and eat.” The mighty Beast cringed at having to use his manners and the word ‘please’, if it was up to him and he didn’t mind being stuck a Beast, he would’ve dragged Harry down the stair by his _stupidly_ long hair.

“The dishes? Is there anything in this castle that isn’t alive?” Harry stood from the bed, getting out of it on the opposite side of Beast so he can still feel like he won their argument on dinner. He quickly walked out of the door before Beast had the chance to stop him or walk ahead of him. He entered the hallway, except now the lights were on and he could see the designs on the wall and carpet, even the paintings and portraits scattered down the pathway.

“You don’t even know where you’re going,” Beast scoffed, walking around Harry to lead the way to the dining room, Harry couldn’t help but roll his eyes and pull a face behind Beast’s back similarly  like a child would when their parents upset them. Nonetheless, Harry followed behind him, Louis and Payno must’ve disappeared off ahead of them. Now that Harry could see the hall’s walls clearly, he could admire the beauty of all the paintings. As they continued down the seemingly endless hallway, he noticed a pattern of paintings of a beautiful blond man, piercing blue eyes with a dimple in his chin. Harry would easily admit the man, or boy, was attractive and he felt like he had seen him before. He stopped for a moment to admire a full frontal portrait, trying to get in touch with the memory of where he’s seen him before.

_‘The eyes,’_ he thought to himself, _‘Look way too familiar.’_ He cocked his head to the side in thought before feeling a rough tug on his arm, nearly pulling him down to the ground.

“Let’s go, the food is getting cold.”

Reluctantly, Harry let Beast pull him into the massive dining room, the Beast’s claw wrapped tightly around his forearm, his long nails denting into Harry’s smooth skin. The dining room appeared to be the cleanest room of the house, or at least compared to the parts Harry’s seen so far. In the middle stood a long light-colored wood dining table, sit to fit more than ten people, Harry didn’t have the chance to count all the chairs as Beast tugged him to one of the end seats. His eyes scanned up to the ceilings, a massive and absolutely breath taking chandelier hung low to the table on a delicate looking string of glass. Beast noticed Harry wasn’t taking a seat in the chair he forced him to, turning to stare at him as the boy in turn, continued to stare at the chandelier. Beast, with his thick brows over his furry face furrowed, watched as his company’s eyes traveled the length and circumference of the chandelier, his green eyes twinkling under the delicate lights of the glass contraption that lit up the room. He hadn’t realized it, but seeing Harry’s face--zoned out blissfully-- helped his tense shoulders fall, a quiet sigh passing through his lips and bottom fangs that jutted from out of his mouth. It was in that moment the selfish creature realized the boy was actually… alluring. His _stupid_ long hair was actually beautiful, flowing down just passed his shoulders. His facial features were strong but his eyes were on the softer side—a pretty shade of green. Perhaps Harry could be their savior after all.

Harry felt someone staring, looking down to see Beast, Louis, and Payno watching him from different parts of the table. He coughed into his hand awkwardly, pulling the massive chair in front of him back to take a seat. He sat down, scooting the chair in closer to the table as he kept his eyes down. He heard the chair at the other end of the table scuff across the floor and he looked up to watch Beast sit down.

“Bon Appétit,” Louis bowed in the middle of the table before plates and silverware emerged from what Harry assumed was the direction of the kitchen, jumping and taking their place in front of the two that were eating. The boy would’ve been shocked but following his meeting with the talking clock and candle, as well as a massive rancorous Beast that could speak perfect English, moving plates and forks didn’t come as much of a surprise. Louis and Payno smiled widely as they watched their fellow animate house objects dance across the table and push a cart of food into the room.  Forks, spoons, and even a ladle helped transfer the meal from the cart to the table. They brought over a massive bird of some sort, cooked and steaming, before dragging over smaller dishes of what looked to be mash potatoes and bread of some sort. At the sight of the just the warm bread made Harry feel worse, making his stomach grumble as well as remind him that the chances of seeing his mother again were quiet slim. He continued to stare at the food blankly as Beast served himself, ripping the legs off the cooked meat with unnecessary force and spooning mash potatoes sloppily on his plate.

“Are you going to eat?” Beast spoke with the fluffy potatoes in his mouth, Harry watched as bits of the potatoes spat out of his mouth onto his the fur surrounding his face with the force of his words. Harry cringed, his face scrunching up in total disgust.

“Not if you’re going to eat like an animal,” He dismissed, folding his arms over his chest.

“Well, that’s the way I’ve learned to eat since – never mind.”

 “Since what?” Harry challenged, watching Beast twirl his spoon in his bowl.

“None of your business,” Beast snarled, slamming down the spoon, sending bits of food over the side of the table. Harry rolled his eyes at the Beast’s temperament, obviously unamused by how quickly the creature’s nature could change.

“Sir, try to be nic-“ Payno’s voice sounded from the floor over by Beast, who quickly snapped his head down the clock’s direction.

“Can it, Payno! I don’t want to fucking hear it,” Beast barked, his voice going deeper than Harry’s ever heard it. Harry’s eyes widened when he heard the Beast swear loudly to someone(or something?) as nice and nervous as Payno, he begun to wonder just how long all these objects have been dealing with Beast’s temperament, “Eat the food,” Beast commanded once his attention was back on him.

“I’ve said it before, I’m not hungry,” Harry fibbed, eyeing the rolls on the table. He really could go for a roll but he didn’t want to give Beast any form of satisfaction, especially since it was his first day kept as a prisoner, not eating would be a form of rebellion against the Beast’s judgment of keeping him here and perhaps Beast would get annoyed and free him.

Beast had been gnawing into one of the legs he had served himself but his chewing stopped at Harry’s words, grunting in displeasement.

“I can hear your stomach rumbling from here,” Beast gritted his teeth, eyes squinting as he watched Harry scratch at his stomach awkwardly before shrugging, “That’s it! Just go back to your room since you want to be so difficult,” He was screaming now, pounding his fisted paws on the table, causing the plates and silverware to jump up before crashing down again. With a purposefully loud sigh, Harry stood from the table before running to the room he had just come from, slamming the door shut behind him.

“Was that really necessary?” Louis groaned, turning to his Master with a displeased look on his face. The beast shrugged his wide shoulders, returning to his meal, “You’re going to let our last chance starve to death in his room?”

“I simply do not care,” Beast rested a heavy elbow on the table, holding the side of his face in one hand. Louis’s wicks caught fire as he grew angry, trying to calm down before he melted away too quickly.

“Well we care, all of us stuck in this cursed place care! Do you think we _want_ to be candles, clocks, dishes, and mops for the rest of our lives? I don’t even remember what it felt like to walk on two feet or to be able to wrap my fingers around something,” Louis was rambling, wobbling back and forth the width of the table in front of Beast.

“And you think I want to be a beast for the rest of my life?” He mumbled, watching Louis pace back and forth was starting to annoy him, he reached a hand out quickly to grab him by the stock, “Will you stop-- you’re driving me mad.”

“We’re all living the consequences of your mistakes and you’re proving the Witch correct; you’re still only caring about yourself. We can all return to the way we were if you’d give up this selfish act and give the boy a chance,” Louis wiggled in the Beat’s grip, “You’re driving us all mad, just think about someone other than yourself for once. If it hadn’t gotten you anywhere before, it’s not going to get you much farther anytime soon,” the candle was free out of the Beat’s grasp, wobbling angrily to the basket of rolls, “Now, because I’m not an egotistical bastard, I’m going to bring the boy some bread so you can have a chance of redeeming yourself and the rest of us.”

Payno, who had been hiding behind one of the other chairs, followed closely behind Louis as he made his way to Harry’s bedroom.

“That was quiet impressive and very brave of you, mate,” Payno offered a smile to Louis who was focusing on not burning the basket of bread in between his two candle ‘hands’.

“Hopefully I talked some sense into him, we can’t continue to suffer from his mistakes years ago,” Louis exhaled, banging the basket against the door of the bedroom in an attempt of knocking.

Back down at the dinner table, Beast ate his food bitterly, suddenly having a loss of appetite. Louis was right although he would never admit that out loud. Beast knew himself just how the attitude he had today had gotten them all in the serious situation they’re all in now. He shook his head to himself, pushing back forcefully in the chair.

“Clean this all up, I’m done for the night,” He huffed to the dishes, watching the enchanted houseware slowly rise to clean up his mess. He treaded to his room in the west wing of the castle, slamming and locking the door tightly behind him. The sight of his room was always a painful reminder of his ill-fated past and present. Self-portraits of his old self were shredded by his massive claws the night the castle was damned, couches and cushions all torn apart in the episodes of Beat’s initial anger. He looked around his massive room, his heart feeling heavy as he continued to look over the damage like he’s done over the years, not bothered to clean it. He reached one of his massive forepaws up to his furry face, pulling the skin under his eyes down in distraught, throwing his head back with a loud groan. When he lifted his head back up, his eyes caught a glimpse of the most precious thing to him. In a curved glass bell jar floated the enchanted rose that counted down the days till Beast’s worst nightmares, its drooping and falling petals telling how much time was left. He walked slowly towards the stand the flower sat upon, totally untouched from his anger episodes. He kneeled down so the rose was at his eye level, frowning deeply as another petal floated down to the surface of the stand, joining the small pile of fallen petals.  Beast was never one to show his more sensitive side, but being alone in his room gave him the ability to lose his hostility and anger. His eyes began to tear up, pooling just above his waterline. He only had so much time left, the thought of being cursed for the remainder of his life causing the tears to leak from the corners of his eyes, dampening his fur. He sighed deeply before pawing at his eyes, trying to gain control over his feelings and begin to focus more on how he would get himself and the others of the castle out of the curse.

 Hesitantly, Harry opened his bedroom door for Payno and Louis after they assured him Beast was not with them or anywhere in the hallway. The candle offered up the basket, Harry sent him a soft smile before bending down to pick it up, already grabbing a roll before he straightened himself back up.

“Thank you, I really was getting famished,” the boy patted his belly softly, smiling into the warm bun as he bit into it. The trio of human, candle, and clock sat quietly in the bedroom as Harry ate a couple of rolls, grateful he even got any food from the dinner table earlier. He’d finished his third roll when Louis made a show of clearing his throat before speaking,

“I know you won’t understand this, but you truly are our last hope,” he watched Harry turn to him, swallowing the last bits of bread in his mouth.

“You’re right, I don’t understand it,” he bit down his bottom lip before continuing, “What is all this ‘last hope’ business you all are talking about?

“It’s not our place to tell,” Payno chimed in before literally chiming; the clock of him announcing it had reached midnight.

“For once Payno is right,” Louis teased, earning a shout of protest from Payno who was sat right next to him, “Anywho, please don’t give up on Master now. He is selfish prick but I really do believe you can change him and save us, I’ve said it often enough.”

“What the hell do you all mean by ‘save’? Save you from what?” Harry’s confusion was getting the best of him, he was growing irritable and annoyed with all the confusing secrets kept between the initial inhabitants of the old castle.

“Beast will tell you soon enough,” Payno shrugged the best he could, looking down at the tiny pegs he stood on that could be considered his feet. Harry rolled his eyes and flared his nostrils, too tired and full to further push the two, muttering an ‘If you say so’ underneath his breath.

“We’ll let you sleep now, uninterrupted this time,” Louis flopped off the bed, Payno right behind him, “Breakfast will be the only reason you should wake up in the morning, we’ll also be sure it is us who wakes you up.”

“Goodnight, Harry.” Payno called over Louis’s shoulder as the candle began to close the bedroom door. Harry yawned, placing the half empty basket of rolls on the small nightstand to his left before crawling back underneath the safety of the sheets; closing his eyes once again in hopes of a better sleep.

\--

“I feel bad, you wake him up!” Harry heard Payno whisper shouted from somewhere close, his eyes remaining closed since he couldn’t be bothered to move from the warm bed.

“Oh for God’s sake,” Louis huffed from what sounded like the general area Payno’s voice had just come from, “Just tap him or speak louder!”

“Louis! Just wake him up! I don’t want to do it, he looks too peaceful and he had a rough night,” Harry decided he had enough of listening to the two bickering over who’d wake him up; he sat up in the bed with a loud, strange groan.

“Stop arguing will you?” He whispered before a massive yawn took over his mouth.

“See, you’ve woke him up now!”  Louis groaned as if it was negative thing, the hands of Payno’s clock face spun madly since Louis seemed to have angered him.

“Are you kidding me? That was the whole point of coming her-“ Liam began, talking through gritted teeth. His actions surprised the bed dwelling boy; the clock seemed too sweet to ever get so upset. Louis cutting him off only seemed to make him worse,

“Anyway,” Louis smiled up at Harry whose hair looked like a couple of rats had decided that’d be the best place to nest in, “Uh, make yourself presentable and join us down stairs for breakfast.”

“Mhm,” Harry mumbled out, stretching his legs out underneath the cover, reaching his hands up to his to comb his fingers through it in an attempt of smoothening out the knots and sloppy curls. Once he figured he looked decent enough, not that he truly cared seeing his only company for breakfast would be an asshole Beast.

He followed the duo out of his room, down the stairs, and down a different corridor than the one they followed the previous night, this one leading to a smaller table pushed in a nook with windows curving to its shape. Beast wasn’t there so Harry took one of the end seats, hoping it wouldn’t be a problem with the irascible Beast. The food was already placed on the table; oatmeal, bagels, and fresh fruit arranged in different plates and bowls—more food than two can finish. He looked around, not sure whether he should serve himself now or wait.

“Nice of you to join us,” Harry heard over his shoulder the voice of Beast, he turned his head to see if the creature was being sincere or not. Instead, he was welcomed by a trimmed Beast. Instead of the blue cape that was clasped above his thick chest, he was wearing a white shirt. His ripped pants were now replaced with longer jean-looking pants. Besides wondering how the Beast even has clothes that fit, Harry wondered why the lunatic was dressed… _nicely_. The fur on his face seemed to have been trimmed and he stood up straighter, ditching his hunch posture, “Good morning.”

_That surprised Harry, was this thing in front of him the same Beast who decided to hold him captive just yesterday? Not even a full twenty-four hours?_

“I-- uh-- good morning?” Harry stammered, still shocked the Beast seemed to have changed overnight. Now Harry was truly scared of pushing the Beast’s button. Beast smiled, baring all of his sharp teeth, fangs surprisingly looking less threatening.

“Please, serve yourself,” the Beast took a seat in the other end chair, similar to the way the two were sat last night before the dramatics took place. Beast must’ve taken notice of Harry’s strange glares, “Are you okay?”

“You look, uh, different?” Harry wasn’t sure why everything he was saying was coming out as a question but he couldn’t stop it, his words coming out awkwardly. Beast tittered, smiling once again,

“I’ve realized I need to try and become a better person, or beast I guess,” he kept eye contact with Harry as he reached for what appeared to be a plain bagel off one of the plates, “So I thought what better time to start than now and with you.”

Harry blinked a few times before telling himself, _“T’ hell with it, what do I got to lose? Nothing because I’m trapped here for the rest of my life.”_ He reached for a bagel and banana cautiously, watching the Beast who in turn was watching Harry with a beaming grin. The boy coughed awkwardly, causing Beast’s intense staring to cease as he focused on putting cream cheese on his bagel.

The breakfast grew awkwardly quiet; Beast practically swallowed his bagel whole before serving himself a good-size bowl of oatmeal. Harry watched as Beast picked up his spoon, acting conscious of how he was holding it as he watched his fingers dance across the silverware before he was satisfied with how his fingers were positioned. With a shaky hand, he tried his best to spoon as much of the oatmeal onto the utensil but he would turn the spoon at a strange angle, causing some of what it had picked up to fall back into the bowl. Harry tried his best not laugh as Beast continued to misuse the spoon, Beast’s patience was still short however and he began to get annoyed.

“Oh my god!” He huffed, dropping the spoon angrily into the bowl.

“Here,” Harry sighed, scooting his chair back before walking over to Beast’s chair. He takes Beast’s left paw, bending the fingers of it back to place the spoon in it, “Hold it like this,” Harry continued his spoon holding lessons, curling his fingers correctly over the handle, “Scoop the food up like this,” Beast let Harry move his paw in the motion of scooping the oatmeal up, looking up at him instead of the paw Harry was focusing on, “And hold it like this till the spoon is in your mouth, that way you get more oats than cold spoon,” Beast awkwardly opened his mouth as Harry pushed his paw up to his mouth from pushing at his massive wrist, the brunet let out a small laugh closer to a nose inhale before releasing the beast’s hand, “And that’s how you use a spoon properly and not like a shovel.” The two smiled at each other and from behind one of the window curtain, Payno and Louis did their best fist bump with wide smiles.

-

Months in the castle had passed without Harry even taking real notice, not that he fairly could seeing as there was no updated calendar anywhere in the castle. Relations between everyone in the castle improved over the weeks, Beast and Harry could possibly be considered _friends_. The dominate Beast even showed Harry the massive kitchen, telling him he could use it whenever he wishes to bake breads, cookies, or anything else his heart desires just like he could at home.

_Home._ Harry had grown seriously home sick. He was missing everything about his small, box-like home. Everything from his bed to the smell of his mother’s perfume formed a long list of things he’d wish to experience again but figured it would never have the chance to. Most days in the castle, Harry was okay when it came to his home sickness. But today, he really longed for a visit home, not totally sure if he could give up the castle either. He stayed in his room for most of the day, the living conditions of the purplish room had gotten better since Harry decided he would clean it up. He wallowed in his self-pity, wrapped tightly in the bedding.

“Harry?” He heard Beast call from outside his door; he lifted his head up to quickly call out “Come in!’

The door slowly opened, Beast stuck his massive head through the half opened door, “Are you, like, okay?”Harry shook his head, keeping it plastered to his pillow. Beast let out an audible sigh, stepping into the room further, “What’s the problem?”

“Homesick,” Harry spoke softly under his breath, taking a slow breath in. Beast paused briefly before deciding the least he could do was help Harry feel a bit less homesick since it was him who was keeping him hostage.

“Here, follow me and I’ll help you,” Beast turned out of the room without waiting for Harry to get out of his bed but he heard Harry’s bare feet hit the wood floors so he knew Harry would soon be right behind him.

“Where are you taking me?” the boy asked as soon as he caught up to Beast in the hallway, taking large steps to be able to get to the creature’s side. Beast looked down at him with a side smile before continuing down the hall,

“The West Wing,” he answered matter-of-factly, Harry stopped in his place, his eyes bulging from his head.

“Y-you mean where you banned me?”

“That would be correct,” Beast chuckled, continuing to walk away. Harry shook his head before jogging back up to Beast, “There is only one west wing of the castle, Harry.”

“Wh-why are you taking me? You said I should never step foot into any room or even the hallway of that part of the castle,” Harry was whisper shouting, for no real reason too, everyone else was elsewhere in the castle probably far from the banned West Wing. Beast chortled; taking a quick left into one of the smaller rooms of the castle, ignoring Harry’s confused questions.

“You’re the only besides me who’s ever been in this room, my parents never even came in here,” Beast was blocking most of Harry’s view as he approached a short table in the room, which was being illuminated by the window that took up the whole back wall, “I brought you here to show you something that I’d think would help with how much you’re missing home.” Beast bent down, picking up a small handheld mirror with a strange green glow over it. He turned on his toes quickly, shoving it into Harry’s hand.

Harry took it and glanced down at his reflection before looking back up to Beast, “My reflection is supposed to help me feel better?”

Beast rolled his eyes, “No, you eejit. It’s enchanted, tell it what you want to see and it shows you exactly that.” Harry batted his eyes before holding the mirror up to his face; he glanced at Beast once more before taking a breath,

“Show me my mother,” Harry spoke into the reflective glass, waiting briefly before his reflection swirled and the mirrors surface showed what seemed to be a live video of his mother who was laying in her bed, her nose red and forehead damp. He reached his free hand up to the glass, running his fingers slowly over his mother’s image, “She’s ill.” Beast was hovered over his shoulder, watching Harry’s body began to slowly shake.

“Wait, are you crying?”

“I think I might,” Harry admitted, “She doesn’t have anyone else to care for her, I was the only one she had and now she’s sick and I’m not there to help her,” He ended up crying, slowly lowering the mirror into his legs before falling down into a heap on the floor.

“What about your father? It takes two to have a child,” Beast offered as if he thought he was helping, Harry sniffled, looking up at him.

“He died when I was four,” his voice gave out by the end of his sentence, his breathing having become uneven due to how fast he started to cry. Beast was surprised and began to feel guilty for keep the boy from his mother who had suddenly fallen ill. He thought for a couple of minutes, the small room being filled with the soft sounds of Harry crying and whimpering.

“Go home,” Beast whispered softly, he didn’t want the sudden sound of his voice in the quiet room to startle the torn up boy.

“What?” Harry hiccupped, lifting his head up with a pout.

“Go home and take care of your sick mum. It isn’t fair that I am keeping you here in hopes you can help me, someone you barley know, when the person who raised you single handedly is at home alone and suffering from whatever it is she’s got.” Beast moved to hold the door open of the room for Harry, motioning for him to exit with his paw.

Harry stood hesitantly, his knees wobbling under the weight of his body. He walked slowly out of the room and into the hallway, slowly to see if the Beast would change his mind or if he was even being serious in the first place.  He didn’t try to stop them as the two of them walked silently to the tall door of the castle,

“I could always come back,” Harry offered, part of him didn’t really want to forget about the castle.

“Don’t worry about it; just go help your mum. Don’t worry about me, or us,” Beast motioned back to the inside of the castle in reference to the others. Harry bowed his head in offer of a thank you; Beast copied his motions as he watched Harry slowly walked out into the now summery weather.

Harry told himself to not look back; he knew it would make it harder to return to his mum, which also made him feel pretty guilty for not wanting to return home permanently. He heard the wooden doors shut tightly behind him as he neared the metal gates that had saved him from hungry wolves that spring evening. The summer sun felt good on his skin, it was the first time he truly got to stand underneath it since being locked away in the Beast’s castle. He pushed through the gates quickly, nearly taking off instantly once the gates closed behind him.

He followed the path he had taken, only now he could see where exactly he was going and without the worry of wolves coming out for a feast. With long strides at a quick pace, Harry could see the entrance to his town and even his own house as exited the pathway. At the sight of his home, Harry’s feet picked up their pace, pulling him home nearly as fast as they had carried him away from the wolves. He barged through the door, startling Anne who had moved to couch wrapped in all her bedding just the same as Harry saw it.

“Harry?” She shouted in shock, raising her voice caused her to have a coughing fit. Harry quickly ran around to his mother’s side, taking her smaller body into his arms. He noticed she felt even smaller, thinner even, “How did you—are you okay?”

“Mum, I’m fine! The beast let me go, he let me come home to take care of you,” He pulled back to look into his mother’s eyes, the ones he hadn’t seen in too long. Her eyes darkened from the last time Harry saw her in the cell, he started to worry more about her current condition.

“I tried telling the townspeople, I tried to get them to go and help you,” she coughed, “But none of them believed me and I began to feel sick so I couldn’t find a way to save you myself.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay! I’m here now and able to take care of you again, we’ll be okay,” Harry wrapped his arms around his mother again, feeling her give her strongest hug before turning her head to kiss his temple. He began to ask her questions regarding how she felt, what hurt, and if she was feverish. He pushed a palm to her forehead, her skin feeling quiet warm—hot even. With all his questions answered, he decided to warm up green tea for her and finding fever reducing medicine somewhere in their cabinets.

The routine of taking care of a sick Anne was what they lived by for two weeks until she started feeling better, enough to at least walk around without pain and being able to keep food down. The pair settled on the couch one evening, cups of tea in hand when there was an obnoxious pounding at their door. Harry told Anne not to worry; standing up to open the door, wanting to rip into the person’s persistent knocking.

“What the hell do you want?” Harry shouted as he opened the door, he could feel his mother shooting him a disappointed glare as he swore. To make matters worse, Noah the annoying hunter bachelor, stood with a cocky smirk in his doorway.

“Harry! Haven’t seen you in ages, babe. Heard you were back in town and decided I’d drop by,” He was leaning on one part of the door frame, his feet crossed at the ankles as he eyed Harry up and down. Harry should’ve slammed the door right in his face, which he’s tried before but Noah had always managed to stop it with one of his massive rubber-boot clad feet, “Also, wanted to get scoop on the said ‘scary beast’ that was holding you hostage.”

“He’s not scary,” Harry corrected out of automatic defense for the beast he actually considered friendly, Noah’s smirk fell, his face growing serious. ‘ _I shouldn’t have said that, fuck._ ’ Harry thought as Noah stood straighter.

“There’s an actual beast?”

Harry gulped, regretting he even opened his big mouth. He stayed mute which truly only made Noah believe him further.

“There is!” Noah barked, “I will gather as many people as I can and demand them to grab their weapons, this beast will not go down without a fight.” He was already turning away before Harry can tell him to stop.

“Noah, please don’t! He isn’t mean or dangerous, leave him be!” Harry called after him; forget about his mother momentarily as he ran after the massive hunter.

“Don’t tell me you actually care for this monster?” Noah turned quickly, nearly causing Harry to crash into his chest.

“What do you know about caring?”

“Well, I am going to get a monster who held you hostage killed so I think it’s fair to say I’m quiet caring,” With his last word, Noah took off for the center of the town, shouting for men and women to gather their torches and guns, or any other weapons to help slay the beast.

Fear instilled itself into Harry before he turned to run back to his mother, stopping in the entry way, “I need to go, I have to warn Beast of the people who are coming. I hope to be back, I’m sorry.” He had word vomit, it all coming out too fast for Anne to process correctly as he gathered another flashlight his mother must’ve replace the old one with and taking off towards the woods.

He caught up to the angry mob, torches burning high above their heads. Some people even had pitchforks ready to hit something, their aim being the Beast. They had gotten close to the castle quicker than he had expected, the front of the massive group was already working on opening the gates.

“Stop! Stop!” Harry cried from behind them but no one could hear him over their angry chant of ‘Kill the beast!’ He tried to push around them, shoving them into each other—not that they noticed.

They successfully pushed through the gates, marching right up to the door. Now Harry was immensely worried, worried for everyone inside the castle. Could they even kill Louis and Payno? Harry sure hoped not.

He turned away for a moment before looking back up to the doors which were now opened and seemed to swallow up the angry people as they rushed through the doors quickly.

“Beasty,” Noah sang loudly, the rest of the mob echoed his tone, Harry’s fear continued to grow. Most of the mob was inside now, bombarding the halls and different rooms. Harry dove in and out between them as they began to rip down curtains, paintings, and any wall décor they felt should be removed, ripping and snapping it all. With every sound of destruction, Harry cringed.

“Oh god, stop!” Harry continued to scream, stopping in the landing of the stair case, holding his hands out in attempt to get the people working their way up the stairs to stop.

“Yes, stop!” Noah was now behind him, the massive group of people that had broken up now all stopped, flooding back to the general area of the entrance of the castle, Harry turned to thank him until he opened his mouth again, “Continuing destroying the castle, the Beast is mine.” The crowd gave a loud “Hooray!” and dispersed back into destruction.  

“What? No!” Harry gasped, running after Noah who was taking off towards the west wing where Beast was sure to be. “Noah, please leave him alone! He’s harmless; he just stays in this castle the whole time.” Harry grabbed at Noah’s unnecessarily buff arms, trying his best to pull him back but his thin arms were no match. Noah jerked his arm forward, ignoring Harry’s screech as he tumbled backwards flat onto his ass. He couldn’t react fast enough as he watched Noah kick down one of the doors raising his bow and arrow ready to aim. Harry hadn’t been in that room before but he knew that’s the one Beast always disappeared to.

“Don’t be cowardly now, Beast. Your castle is being destroyed and Harry is mine, might as well give up now,” Harry heard Noah challenge, finally getting to his feet to watch what was happening within the bedroom. The hunter was scanning the massive size of the room, walking slowly deeper into the middle of the room. Harry looked around the room himself from the door way, looking over Noah’s shoulder straight to the massive balcony. He could see Beast staring down to the front of the castle, his back turned to Noah and himself. It was a surprise Noah hadn’t noticed him but Harry thought too soon, the sound of a bow being pulled back sounded and he realized Noah had Beast locked as his target.

“Beast!” Harry squealed, startling Noah who released the bow but the aim was thrown off after Harry surprised him. The arrow went straight for Beast’s massive bicep since he too was turning at the sound of Harry’s voice. The beast let out a powerful howl, his opposite paw coming across to where the arrow had punctured through his skin down to the muscle, throwing his head back as he cried out in pain. Beast’s cry deepened into a growl as he ripped the arrow out of his arm, throwing it down onto the cement ground. He grunted as he ran towards Noah back inside his bedroom, pouncing on top of him as he bared his sharp show of teeth. Noah grumbled, kicking his legs up into Beast’s stomach and chest as the creature kept the human’s wrists pinned down to the ground.

It took Noah a brief moment before he realized he wouldn’t be able to free himself from Beast’s grasp so he did what he could think of; spitting straight into Beast’s wide open blue eyes. That only enraged the beast further but he did release Noah’s wrists to paw at his eyes in disgust. As he backed away, Noah jumped onto Beast’s back, sending him staggering forward and back onto the balcony he had just come from.

“Get off me!” Beast shouted, his claws scratching at the skin on Noah’s arms which were wrapped tightly around his neck from behind.

“Now, why would I do that?” Noah squawked, trying to bare the pain of the cuts Beast’s nails were leaving in his forearms, “I came here to kill you and I never fail.” Beast reached behind himself, grabbing Noah’s ponytail harshly, causing the human’s arms to loosen their hold. Once he felt he could pull him off, Beast swung Noah down to the ground in front him, clawing at his shirt on the way down.

Noah grabbed at Beast’s fur on his shoulder and face, aggressively ripping chunks of it from his skin. The two swung at each other, a battle of hands versus claws, for minutes. Harry watched helplessly, frozen from fear in the doorway. Beast managed to push Noah up against the railing of the balcony, hundreds of feet above the earth’s surface. He reached a powerful claw up to his rival’s neck, closing his hand tightly. He held him up by the neck, holding him over the edge.

“Please, please let me go! I won’t hurt you anymore,” Noah cried through strangled breath, trying to pull the beast’s hand away. Beast, with his brow furrowed in anger and distaste, stared into Noah’s eyes momentarily before his face softened. He pulled the man back over the ledge, setting him down forcefully with his hand still wrapped around his neck.

“Leave my castle,” Beast demanded, “Now!” He bellowed, releasing his neck and watching him crumble to the floor.

“Beast!” Harry shouted, his voice finally coming to him. Beast turned to look at him and listen, “I tried to warn you bu-“The Beast let out another loud howl-like cry, arching his back in pain. Noah was latched onto Beast back once again, this time he had a stake that was driven into Beasts back. When Beast arched his back, Noah was flung over the balcony’s edge, letting out a long and rattling scream till a thud was heard from hitting the ground beneath him.

Harry hated himself for not reacting soon enough, running over to Beast as he stumbled forward onto the balcony’s floor, letting out a weak cry before falling totally silent. Harry kneeled down the body, splaying his hands over his back to see if he could feel any movement of him breathing, but there was none. Harry held his breath, moving quickly to try and turn him over. He reached beneath his arms, pulling him up before struggling with the dead weight to turn him over. Once Beast was on his bleeding back, Harry took notice of his shut eyes and slack mouth. At least he didn’t _look_ like he died in an agonizing death. The tears swelling in his eyes surprised Harry himself, he flung his body on top of Beast’s, letting his tears soak the Beast’s white shirt.

He continued to cry, his body shaking over Beast’s wide chest.

Suddenly, Harry felt Beast’s body shift beneath him and he shot up to sit on his knees. Beast body began to rise from the ground, a light haze of green swimming over his dead body. Harry watched with wide eyes as the body continued to rise, Beast’s arms and legs dangling down by his sides. Before Harry’s eyes, Beast began to transform. His enormous paws stretched and changed to a human’s hand, his fingers wiggling slightly. Quickly, Beast’s fur disintegrated and skin stretched over his arms and legs, his back paws became feet similarly like the forepaws. Lastly, Beast’s face shifted into that of a human. His new jawline was soft, a small dimple interrupting the smoothness of his chin. The wolf-like nose became a small button one, his mane becoming shorter blond hair before the body slowly lowered back down to the ground.

Harry’s heart was racing from confusion and shock, if he was an elder he probably would’ve dropped dead. The human sat up slowly, blinking his smaller eyes slowly. The man pivoted at the hips to look directly at Harry, whose hand instantly shot up to his chest. The man in all the portraits that hung around the castle, or used to since Noah’s mob had probably destroyed the most of it, was the one sitting right in front of him now—in Beast’s place.

“Harry?” The man offered slowly, his voice was softer than Beast’s and you could make out the accent Beast had, he knew it was Irish.

“B-Beast?” Harry’s voice trembled as the man offered a smile, perfectly straight and white teeth on display. The blond looked down at his new human hands before grinning back at Harry.

“Actually, it’s Niall now,” he paused as Harry stood up slowly, “I can’t believe you came back.”

“Of course I did. You could’ve killed me at any given moment and all though you were extremely harsh when we first met, you changed and I became strangely happy living in the castle with you and the others,” Harry approached Niall slowly, taking his new hands in his.

Niall beamed, giving Harry’s hand a tight squeeze, “You know, the only way the curse could be broken and we could be human again was for me to find someone who could love me, looking passed my old selfish ways.”

“Hmm, is that so? I wonder who that is then,” Harry laughed, releasing Niall’s hands to wrap his own around his neck.

“If I do recall correctly, you were just crying a few minutes ago before I transformed to myself,” Niall wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist, pulling him closer.

“Shut up, I thought you were dead,” Harry huffed, letting out a small giggle before Niall gave up with his patience and leaned in to kiss Harry for the first time now that he really could. Over the short period of time they spent together, Niall shamelessly feel for the levelheaded brunet. He never thought he would even have a chance with him however; he was just a hideous beast while Harry was a true beauty.

“Boy am I glad you’re not a beast anymore,” Harry grinned as he pulled away, grabbing Niall’s face in his hands.

“Would’ve been weird to kiss a monster, right?” Niall chuckled, grabbing one of Harry’s hands to start walking back into the castle together. Harry blushed awkwardly, nodding his head softly, “I don’t blame you. We should go find everyone else, I’m sure they’re just as excited as we are right now.” Hand in hand, they exited the bedroom and walked down to the entry way, gasping at all the damage done by Noah’s angry mob, “Yeah, we’ll have to fix that later.” Niall didn’t even seem fazed by all the damage seeing as his bedroom alone had seen worse damage from his own hands.

“Oh, Harry! You saved us all!” Payno’s voice sounded from behind them, a tall brunet man came running towards him followed by a shorter guy with feathery brown hair.

“Payno? Wow, look at you!” Harry beamed, releasing Niall’s hand to give his old clock friend a hug.

“I’m human again so please, call me Liam!” Payno—Liam—was smiling ear to ear, his eyes crinkling as he laughed from excitement.

“I was always Louis but it’s an awesome feeling to not have hands of fire now,” The feathery haired man waited patiently to receive a brief hug from Harry, “I knew you’d be the one to break the curse, we all owe it to you.”

“I’m glad, really I am, but can you all explain to me how this curse came about?” Harry returned to Niall side, the four of them forming a small circle of conversation.

“I’ll explain it all,” Niall began, clearing his throat, “When I was a bit younger, an ugly old hag of a witch came to the castle in hopes to find shelter from a storm brewing outside. I was extremely selfish, more so than I was when we first met, and sent her away. Before she left, she turned into a beautiful enchantress. I begged for her forgiveness but she said I needed to learn a lesson on greed and selfishness so she casted the curse on the castle, I became a beast while everyone else became different sorts of objects. The enchantress left an enchanted rose, which I keep in safekeeping in the west wing, which shows me just how much time I really had left to break the curse; although I knew it would have to be before my twenty-second birthday or else I would be stuck as a Beast forever.”

“And how old are you now?” Harry asked once he knew Niall was done explaining the curse.

“Twenty-one, my birthday is next month.” Niall nodded, Louis and Liam nodding in agreement with him.

“My timing is amazing, wouldn’t you say?” Harry elbowed Niall’s side softly, everyone letting out quiet laughs.

“Couldn’t have arrived at a better time,” Niall took Harry’s hand, bowing like a prince would while raising the back of his hand to his lips, kissing it softly.

“Awe, Liam, would you look at that? They’re so cute,” Louis cooed, swinging his arm over Liam’s shoulder, squeezing at his cheeks as they watched the new couple smile up at each other.

“Well, I hate to break the love fest, but we have a huge castle to fix up before we can truly live in it,” Liam pulled away from Louis’s hands, spinning out from under his arm.

Niall and Harry were locked in a kiss but at Liam’s mention of work, the blond pulled way with a loud groan, “Can’t a guy just enjoy his new prince for a bit?”

“You’re a prince?” Harry coughed, everyone else in the room looked at him like he was dumb, “Oh wait, we’re standing in a castle, that makes sense.” He blushed from embarrassment, hiding his face with one of his hands.

“Oh god, you’re so cute,” Niall admired Harry’s red cheeks briefly before cupping his face to give him another kiss, the feeling of his lips was something he felt he couldn’t get enough of. They pulled away and locked hands once again, looking over their shoulders back to the top of the stairs, “Welcome to your new home.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting on here...hmm.... feedback here or tumblr (kodalinarry) would be most appreciated! Thank you! x


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